Systems including network simulation for mobile application development and online marketplaces for mobile application distribution, revenue sharing, content distribution, or combinations thereof

ABSTRACT

A system and methods emulate an application executing in real time in a mobile device. The mobile device is emulated in real time using a model running on a processor extrinsic to the mobile device. The model is based on characteristics indicative of performance of the mobile device. The application is executed in real time within the model and the application executing in the model is monitored to determine resource utilization information by the application for the mobile device. The resource utilization information for the mobile device is displayed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/759,543, filed Apr. 13, 2010, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/449,958, filed Jun. 9, 2006, andissued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,813,910, on Oct. 12, 2012, which applicationclaims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 60/689,101 filed Jun. 10,2005. These applications and patent are incorporated herein byreference, in their entirety, for any purpose.

BACKGROUND

It is estimated that the mobile market is evolving at five times thespeed of the eCommerce market. It is estimated that nearly 700 millionnew mobile devices will be shipped in 2005, with a new handset modelbeing launched every other day. This rapid mobile device developmentrequires that applications designed to run on these mobile devices alsosustain rapid development. Development systems targeted at one mobiledevice may become obsolete and possibly of little value to the developerat the time it is shipped as well as development life cycles.

Many new mobile devices include a display management engine called aFlash Player; one example of a Flash Player suitable for mobile devicesis FlashLite, developed by Macromedia. The Flash Player provides acommon application platform for playing applications on the mobiledevices and allows developers to develop applications that may be playedon multiple mobile devices that include the Flash Player. Applicationsfor mobile devices are typically developed on a personal computer (PC)or workstation and target one or more types of mobile device thatinclude a Flash Player. These applications require real-time testing ofthe application on all applicable mobile devices. Although a FlashPlayer application may operate correctly on one mobile device model, itmay crash when playing on a different mobile device model. For example,a NOKIA 6600 has a 16% reduction in ARM CPU speed and available memoryresources compared to a NOKIA 7610, thus an application that playscorrectly on the NOKIA 7610 may not play correctly on the NOKIA 6600 dueto this drop in inherent resources.

Development packages (e.g., FlashMX by Macromedia) are available to runon a PC and allow development of Flash Player applications for one ormore mobile devices. However, although these development packages maysimulate operation of the application playing on the targeted mobiledevice, they do not determine if the application will play correctly onthe targeted mobile device based upon resource usage. Currently, theonly way to determine if an application plays on a particular mobiledevice is to transfer the application to the device and play it. Duringdevelopment of an application for a mobile device, an application authormay transfer and play the application hundreds of times (developmentlife cycles) on the targeted mobile device before identifying andcorrecting all system resource problems within the application. Where anapplication is targeted to play on many types of mobile device, it mustbe transferred and tested on a mobile device representative of eachtargeted mobile device type. This transferring and testing process istime-consuming and therefore costly for the application author.

Further, having accessibility to all available mobile devices intargeted geographical markets worldwide as well as real-time interactionwith network Operators to measure and emulate network characteristicswithin each market is presently not possible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, a method emulates and profiles an application to playon a mobile device that includes a Flash Player. Characteristicsdefining performance of the mobile device are loaded. The mobile deviceis emulated using a model based upon the characteristics. Theapplication is played and monitored within the model to determineresource utilization of the application for the mobile device.

In another embodiment, a method authors, emulates and profiles anapplication to play on a mobile device that includes a Flash Player. Theapplication is authored using an application development tool and themobile device is emulated using a model based upon the characteristics.The application is played within the model and the model is monitored todetermine resource utilization of the application for the selectedmobile device.

In another embodiment, a method authors an application to play on amobile device that includes a Flash Player. The application is authoredusing an application development tool. Resource utilization of theapplication for the mobile device is estimated. The steps of authoringand estimating are repeated until the resource utilization is less thanor equal to the resources available on the mobile device.

In another embodiment, a software product has instructions, stored oncomputer-readable media, wherein the instructions, when executed by acomputer, perform steps emulating and profiling an application to playon a mobile device that includes a Flash Player, including: instructionfor loading characteristics defining performance of the mobile device;instruction for emulating the mobile device using a model based upon thecharacteristics; instruction for playing the application within themodel; and instruction for monitoring the application playing in themodel to determine resource utilization of the application for themobile device.

In another embodiment, an emulator profiles an application of a mobiledevice that includes a Flash Player, including: means for generating amodel of the mobile device based upon mobile device characteristics, andmeans for playing the application within the model to determine resourceutilization of the application when played by the mobile device.

In another embodiment, a method determines whether an application of amobile device is operable. Characteristics are downloaded over Internetfor one or more mobile devices to be emulated and the application forthe mobile devices is tested, via the Internet, using an emulator todetermine if the application is operable on the mobile device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1A shows one exemplary embodiment of a system for emulating,authoring and visually profiling an application playing on a mobiledevice that includes a Flash Player.

FIG. 1B shows one exemplary embodiment of the system of FIG. 1A within acomputer.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating detail of an emulator of thesystem of FIGS. 1A and 1B.

FIG. 3 is a display showing one exemplary frame based profile graph.

FIG. 4 is a display showing the modeled mobile device of FIGS. 1A and1B.

FIG. 5 shows one exemplary window that includes the display of FIG. 3,the display of FIG. 4 and an exemplary user interface.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for modeling and profilingan application to play on a mobile device that includes a Flash Player.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating one method for authoring, emulatingand profiling an application to play on a mobile device that includes aFlash Player.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the emulator of FIG. 1interacting with an operator development server via the Internet forsimulating playing of the application within a mobile device connectedto a wireless network.

FIGS. 9, 10, 11 and 12 show exemplary user interface screens forinteracting with the emulator of FIG. 1 to configure and test operationof the application within the model of the mobile device when connectedto a wireless network.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating one exemplary method for configuringnetwork simulation.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating one method for determining whetheran application of a mobile device is operable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The Personalization of Mobile Commerce

A perfect storm is emerging in one of the largest consumer markets todate —mobile commerce. Industry analysts estimate that the mobilecommerce market will reach an unprecedented 500 billion dollars perannum by 2008 worldwide. In 2003, the ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) inmobile commerce was $72 dollars. In 2008 it Is predicted to reach anaverage of $332 dollars per user. What will drive the ARPU to reach 4-5times what It Is today? More specifically, as this new global marketemerges, which platform(s) will sustain this unprecedented marketopportunity?

Early frontrunners like Java, .NET and BREW have taken great strides inthe early/formative years, the likes of SurfKitchen, Action Engine,MFORMA and others taking SMS, MMS and mobile gaming to exciting consumerlevels. However, with a market primarily based on the Java and J2MEplatform, mobile content and entertainment revenues achieved less than3% of the total mobile service revenue and less than 19% of non-voicerevenue.

Is this a failure? Based on current market projections and a weightedARPU, total consumer spending on mobile content will only achieveapproximately 72Bn by 2008. With the inherent runtime limitations ofthese current languages, consumer uptake of mobile content will reachapproximately 1/7 or 14% of the total projected levels by 2008.Therefore, either Java and the early frontrunners will substantiallyevolve to become a more consumer-adapted platform to meet anunprecedented market need, or a new platform will emerge to drive mobilecommerce to projected levels.

Consumers Will Lead Mobility the Leaders Will Follow

‘Software for the People’ is a paradigm shift in client sidepersonalization and mobile architecture. Called Active2Play™, this newplatform places the personalization of content directly into the handsof the consumer on the client side, similar to what Windows® achievedfor the PC. What Symbian is for the handset, Active2Play™ is for theconsumer, a personalised windows environment allowing the firstcustomizable application environment for the consumer. To this end,‘Software for the People’ is built upon three personalized mobileplatforms: Active2Play™ Consumer, Active2Play™ UI and Active2Play™Marketplace.

Active2Play™ Consumer allows the end user the ability to personalizetheir content operating experience Over-the-Air, delivering anunparalled platform of client side consumer personalization. From thisarchitecture Kiwi has developed three Consumer Branded platforms:VASports™ (a personalized Over-the-Air consumer sport line); ImageVu™ (apersonalized Over-the-Air photo imaging line); and CouponVu™ (Apersonalized Over-the-Air corporate branding and one-to-one marketingline).

Alongside of the Active2Play™ Consumer platform, Kiwi offers an industryfirst Flash Lite end-to-end service platform called Active2Play™ UI,enabling realtime branding and personalization of the mobile userinterface. Unlike the J2ME platform, Active2Play™ UI dramaticallyreduces Server Crosstalk™ (a client side architecture), and can bemanaged and updated Over-the-Air by the consumer, operator and handsetmaker providing realtime personalization and brand marketing of thehandset user Interface.

Active2Play™ Marketplace is an Open Application Marketplace™ for theaggregation and distribution of Flash Lite content, the third and finalpiece in the Flash Lite ecosystem. From server content distribution, tolive variable billing and provisioning, Active2Play™ Marketplaceprovides an open and accessible platform for the Flash lite developercommunity to rapidly deploy Flash Lite content.

Kiwi Revenue Model

Kiwi estimates that its Flash Lite and Active2Pay™ platform revenueswill come from four primary models: (1) Mass-market per handset licensefees for embedded applications with handset makers; (2) Mass-market persubscriber license fees for revenue sharing applications with operators;(3) Mass-market per handset license fees for personalized UI's and brandmarketing; and (4) Active2Play™ Marketplace, content aggregation anddistribution services as the Flash Lite developer community reaches acritical mass.

With the ability to achieve commerce anywhere at anytime, MobileCommerce presents a unique and global platform for handset makers,operators and consumers alike. As the ecommerce market moves beyond thepersonal computer to embrace the ‘edge’ or wireless community via thecell phone, companies are aggressively moving to capitalize on a new andemerging 500 billion dollar mCommerce market. With the economicpotential of 1.67 billion users by 2008 connecting to the Internetanytime, anywhere to view or buy anything they want via their mobiledevice, a new breed of company will emerge with the ability to rethink,redesign and re-engineer its architecture to adapt to the ‘client side’specifics of mCommerce. The convenience of ‘point of sale’anywhere-you-go will mark an unprecedented cultural shift in consumerbuying patterns within international markets.

FIG. 1A shows one exemplary embodiment of a system 100 for emulating andprofiling a frame based application 104 playing on a mobile device 114that includes a Flash Player 116. System 100 is shown with an emulator101, a profiler 106 and a display 110. Emulator 101 generates a mobiledevice model 102, based upon mobile device characteristics 115 of mobiledevice 114. Model 102 emulates mobile device 114 to play frame basedapplication 104 and may, for example, generate an emulated mobile devicedisplay 111 that represents mobile device 114. Emulated mobile devicedisplay 111 may be interactive to allow a user to interact (in a mannersimilar to interacting with device 114) with application 104 whileplaying within model 102.

Profiler 106 monitors playing of frame based application 104 withinmodel 102 to estimate resource usage of application 104 and generates aframe based profile data display 110. Frame based profile data display110 may allow a user of system 100 to identify areas within application104 that would exceed resources of mobile device 114.

Application 104 may be developed using a frame based applicationdevelopment tool 112 (indicated in dashed outline). Frame basedapplication development tool 112 may, for example, represent Flash MX orStudio 8 from MacroMedia (now Adobe Systems). Once the user of system100 has verified that application 104 does not exceed resources ofmobile device 114, development tool 112 may be instructed to publishapplication 104 to device 114, as shown.

In one example of operation, development tool 112 is used to developframe based application 104. Application 104 is transferred to emulator101 for playing within mobile device model 102 to estimate resourceusage of application 104 when played on mobile device 114. Upon playingapplication 104 within model 102, emulator 101 utilizes profiler 106 todetermine resource utilization of application 104 based upon mobiledevice characteristics 115.

In one embodiment, emulator 101 is integrated with flash developmenttool 112 to form an authoring environment 122 that facilitatesdevelopment and testing of application 104 without the need tocontinually load application 104 into mobile device 114.

In another embodiment, emulator 101 is an add-in module that may beconfigured to operate within flash development tool 112.

Mobile device 114 is shown with Flash Player 116, display 118 and inputkeys 120. In one embodiment, Flash Player 116 is FlashLite™ fromMacromedia™ (Adobe Inc). Mobile device 114 may, for example, representone of: a cell phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), an interactivehome appliances and other such devices. In one example, display 118represents a color liquid crystal display (LCD) device for displayingtext and images to a user of mobile device 114 and input keys 120represent buttons that allow the user to interact with mobile device114.

FIG. 1B shows one exemplary embodiment of system 100 within a computer130. Computer 130 includes memory 132, storage 134 and a processor 136.Memory 132 is for example random access memory (RAM) and storage 134 isfor example a disk drive or other non-volatile storage media.

Storage 134 is shown with emulator 101, mobile device characteristics115 and application 104. Storage 134 may also include development tool112, if desired, for developing application 104. Emulator 101 includesmodel algorithms 148 and profiler 106. Model algorithms 148 representone or more algorithms that operate to generate mobile device model 102to emulate mobile device 114 while executing application 104.Specifically, model algorithms 148 define operation of mobile device 114based upon mobile device characteristics 115.

TABLE 1 Mobile Device Characteristics Parameter Value Name NOKIA 3650Processor ARM 4T Processor Speed 104 MHz Storage Access Speed 5.88files/second RAM Size 256 MB Storage Size 512 MB Display Width 256Display Height 394 Pixel Depth 24 Processor Availability 60% RAMAvailability 60% Storage Availability 40%

Table 1 Mobile Device Characteristics shows exemplary characteristicsthat may be used to specify performance of model 102 to emulate mobiledevice 114. For example, in Table 1, the characteristics have thefollowing meaning: ‘Processor’ specifies the type of the processor inmobile device 114; ‘Processor Speed’ specifies the clocked speed of theprocessor within device 114; ‘Storage Access Speed’ specifies the rateat which data can be moved from storage to memory and/or screen withindevice 114; ‘RAM Size’ specifies the size of the RAM in mobile device114; ‘Storage Size’ specifies the size of the non-volatile memory inmobile device 114; ‘Display Width’ specifies the number horizontalpixels on display 118 of device 114; ‘Display Height’ specifies thenumber of vertical pixels of display 118; ‘Pixel Depth’ specifies thenumber of bits per pixel (e.g., the color depth) of display 118;‘Processor Availability’ specifies the percentage of processing resourceavailable for use by applications (e.g., where mobile device 114represents a cell phone, the phone has to maintain ‘phone’ operationswhile running any applications, thus there may only be a portion of themaximum processing resource available to applications); ‘RAMAvailability’ specifies the percentage of RAM available to applications;and ‘Storage Availability’ specifies the percentage of non-volatilestorage space available to applications.

Table 1 may be represented as a data structure (e.g., shown as mobiledevice characteristics 115 within storage 134) and may be stored in afile (not shown) or a database (not shown) within storage 134, or storedremotely. System 100 may include mobile device characteristics (e.g.,mobile device characteristics 115) for multiple devices (e.g., device114). For example, characteristics 115 may be included for each mobiledevice type targeted by application 104. A user of system 100 may thenselect one or more target mobile devices from a list based uponavailable characteristics 115. As appreciated, additional or fewercharacteristics may be included within characteristics 115 to specifyperformance of mobile device 114 without departing from the scopehereof.

As new mobile device types are created, additional mobile devicecharacteristics 115 may be easily created to specify the performance ofthe new device types, allowing application development to start before aphysical mobile device is available. For example, if a companyintroduces a new series of six mobile phone handsets, six additionalmobile device characteristics 115 may be created based upon measured(e.g., by running benchmarks on the new handsets or prototype) ordetermined (e.g., by estimating performance based upon previous models)performance thereby allowing emulation and evaluation of applicationstargeting these new devices.

In one embodiment, mobile device characteristics 115 may be suppliedwith a device model specific to one mobile device. For example, amanufacturer may supply a combined device model and characteristics foreach mobile device 114. Emulator 101 may then utilize the combineddevice model as device model 102.

In one example, computer 130 may include an interface (not shown) thatprovides communication with mobile device 114 via one or more of: USB,Ethernet, infra-red, Bluetooth, WiFi and other similar communicationmedia. This interface may, for example, allow application 104 to bedeployed on mobile device 114 for final testing of application 104.

In one example of operation, processor 136 loads at least part ofemulator 101 into memory 132 for execution. Emulator 101 then generatesmobile device model 102, based upon characteristics 115, within memory132. Emulator 101 then loads and plays application 104 within model 102.Emulator 101 may load all or part of profiler 106 into memory 132 tomonitor resources and/or performance of application 104 within model102. Specifically, as application 104 is played (i.e., utilizing a FlashPlayer 154) within model 102, profiler 106 monitors and records, asprofiled data 152, resources utilized by application 104. Profiled data152 may be stored (as shown in dashed outline) within storage 134 and/ordisplayed as frame based profile data 110 on display 140 of terminal138. In particular, frame based profile data 110 may be used to identifyareas within application 104 where upon playing of application 104within mobile device 114, performance of mobile device 114 would bestressed. Thus, areas where failure may occur within application 104 maybe identified prior to running application 104 on mobile device 114. Forexample, emulator 101 may display all or part of profile data 152 ondisplay 140 to facilitate development of application 104.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating emulator 101 of FIGS. 1A and 1Bin further detail. In particular, profiler 106, within emulator 101, isshown with a processor profile module 202, a memory profile module 204,a graphic profile module 206 and a system profile module 208. Processorprofile module 202 may, for example, estimate processor utilization ofapplication 104 within model 102. Memory profile module 204 may, forexample, estimate memory utilization by application 104 within model102. Graphic profile module 206 may, for example, estimate utilizationof 3D fill rate and 3D polygon count of application 104 within model102. System profile module 208 may, for example, determine overallsystem utilization of application 104 within model 102. More or fewerprofile modules may be included within profiler 106 without departingfrom the scope hereof.

Device model 102, within emulator 101, has a modeled display 210, amodeled processor 212, modeled input keys 214, modeled memory 216 andmodeled non-volatile storage 218. In this example, modeled display 210represents display 118 of mobile device 114, FIG. 1, processor 212represents a processor (not shown) of mobile device 114, modeled inputkeys 214 represent input keys 120 of mobile device 114, modeled memory216 represents memory (e.g., RAM) of mobile device 114 and modelednon-volatile storage 218 represents non-volatile storage (e.g., flashmemory, disk drive storage) of mobile device 114. Fewer or more elementsand/or components of mobile device 114 may be modeled within devicemodel 102 without departing from the scope hereof.

Modeled non-volatile storage 218 is shown with Flash Player 154 that maybe the same as, or similar to, Flash Player 116, FIG. 1. In one example,Flash Player 154 has similar operation to Flash Player 116, but includesmodifications that facilitate monitoring of application 104 within model102 by profiler 106.

Flash applications are based upon a timeline of frames that may includegraphical information and action scripts, FS Commands, networkprotocols, selected frame rate, etc. Flash Player 116 within mobiledevice 114 thus operates upon a time line of frames within application104 to provide graphical displays (e.g., animations, rich media content)upon display 118. Accordingly, profiled data 152 may also be based uponthe timeline and frames of application 104 and displayed (e.g., framebased profile data 110) as resource utilization related to one or moreof: timeline, frames and processing performance of action scripts.

In FIG. 2, application 104 is shown with a timeline 222 that includesframes 223. Each frame of frames 223 may include graphics and/or actionscripts that generate the graphical image for display. For example, anaction script may reference one or more graphic files (e.g., movie file224) to provide graphical images for display 111. Where each frame offrames 223 includes multiple graphic elements and/or action scripts thatinvolve image manipulation (e.g., retrieving data from non-volatilestorage, Avatar manipulations, animations, etc.), each frame may requirediffering resources in order to display correctly. For example, where aframe includes Avatar (e.g., an animated character) manipulation, acertain amount of processor resource is required, whereas a frame thatis based upon movie file 224 may simply require data transfer time. Ifmobile device 114 has insufficient processor resources (e.g., becausethe animation is too complex for the targeted mobile device),application 104 may crash (i.e., cease to function correctly). Thus, itis important to determine the ‘stress’ applied by application 104 toresources of mobile device 114.

In one example of operation, Flash Player 154 plays application 104within model 102. In particular, player 154 processes frames 223 ofapplication 104 based upon ordering of timeline 222. One or moreprofiler modules 202, 204, 206 and 208 within profiler 106 monitorresource utilization of each frame, storing results as profiled data152. Profiled data 152 is then displayed as frame based profile data 110on display 140 for review by the user. Profile data 152 may be displayedin real time as application 104 is played within model 102.Alternatively, the user may scroll through profile data 152 as desiredby interacting with data display 110. Alternatively, profile data 152may be output as a report (not shown). The user interacts with emulatedmobile device display 111 to control application 104 as if applicationwere running on device 114.

FIG. 3 shows one exemplary display 300 showing a frame based display ofprofiled data 152, FIG. 1A, determined by processor profile module 202.In particular, display 300 is shown with a time line 302 that representstimeline 222 of application 104. In this example, each bar 304 indicatesprocessor resource utilization for certain frames 223 of application104. During play of application 104 within model 102, a current positionindicator 306 shows the frame (i.e., frame 1 in this example) currentlydisplayed by emulated mobile device display 111 (see FIG. 4). A capacityline 308 (capout) indicates the maximum processor resource available toapplication 128. Where bars 304 rise above capacity line 308 atlocations 310, resource utilization for indicated frames of application104 exceed the available processor resources of mobile device 114; thusapplication 104 may ‘capout’ or crash when playing those frames. Display300 clearly displays processor resource utilization by frame 223 ofapplication 104, thereby facilitating assimilation of stresses appliedto mobile device 114 when playing application 104.

Other profile modules 204, 206 and 208, may have similar displays thatclearly indicate resource utilization during playing of application 104within model 102, thereby estimating resource utilization of application104 when played within mobile device 114.

FIG. 4 shows one exemplary display 400 generated from device model 132within emulator 120, FIG. 1. In particular, display 400 shows an image(e.g., generated from a bitmap of mobile device 114) of mobile device114 with a display area 402 and input keys 404. Display 400 allows theuser to see and interact with an application running within device model132. For example, display area 402 may represent display 118 of mobiledevice 114 and input keys 404 may represent input keys 120 of mobiledevice 114.

FIG. 5 shows one exemplary window 500 that includes display 300 of FIG.3 and display 400 of FIG. 4 and an exemplary user interface. Inparticular, window 500 shows selection of a mobile device (i.e., NOKIA3650 in this example) from a pull-down list 502 that results in displayof characteristics 504 of the selected mobile device. Characteristics504 may represent characteristics 115 of FIG. 1A, for example. Window500 facilitates interaction with model 102 through display 400 andmonitoring of resource utilization of application 104 through window300. Further, pull-down list 502 allows easy selection of further mobiledevices upon which application 104 is to be profiled.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method 600 for modeling andprofiling an application playing on a mobile device that includes aFlash Player. Method 600 may, for example, be implemented withinemulator 101.

In step 602, method 600 loads characteristics defining performance ofthe mobile device. In one example of step 602, a user of window 500selects a mobile device using pull-down list 502 and emulator 101 loadsmobile device characteristics 115 into memory 132.

In step 604, method 600 emulates the mobile device using a model basedupon the characteristics. In one example of step 604, emulator 101generates device model 102 based upon mobile device characteristics 115.

In step 606, method 600 loads the application into the model. In oneexample of step 606, emulator 101 loads application 104 into devicemodel 102.

In step 608, method 600 plays the application within the model. In oneexample of step 608, emulator 101 plays application 104 within model102.

In step 610, method 600 monitors the application playing in the model todetermine resource utilization of the application for the mobile device.In one example of step 610, emulator 101 utilized profiler 106 tomonitor application 104 playing within model 102 to determine profileddata 152.

In step 612, method 600 displays the resource utilization information.In one example of step 612, emulator 101 displays all or part ofprofiled data 152 as frame based profile data 110 on display 140.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating one method 700 for authoring,emulating and profiling an application to play on a mobile device thatincludes a Flash Player. Method 700 may be implemented within emulator101, for example.

In step 702, method 700 authors an application for a mobile device. Inone example of step 702, a user interacts with frame based applicationdevelopment tool 112 to author application 104.

In step 704, method 700 plays the application within an emulation of themobile device. In one example of step 704, emulator 101 generates model102 based upon characteristics 115 of mobile device 114 and then loadsand plays application 104 within model 102.

In step 706, method 700 determines resource utilization of the playingapplication. In one example of step 706, emulator 101 utilizes one ormore profile modules 202, 204, 206 and 208 of profiler 106 to determineresource utilization of application 104 within model 102 and stores theresource utilization information as profiled data 152.

In step 708, method 700 evaluates resource utilization in view ofcharacteristics of the mobile device. In one example of step 708,emulator 101 evaluates profiled data 152 to determine, based uponcharacteristics 115, if resource utilization is within availableresources of mobile device 114.

Step 710 is a decision. If in step 710, method 700 determines that theresource utilization of step 708 is within available resources of mobiledevice 114 (i.e., OK), method 700 continues with step 714; otherwisemethod 700 continues with step 712.

In step 712, method 700 authors the application to resolve resourceissues. In one example of step 712, the user modifies application 104,based upon determined resource utilization of step 708, usingdevelopment tool 112. Method 700 continues with step 704. Steps 704though 712 thus repeat until the estimated resources requirement of theapplication is within available resources of the mobile device.

Step 714 is optional and is particularly suited for testing applications(e.g., application 104) running on a mobile device (e.g., mobile device114) that is a mobile phone. In step 714, emulator 101 interacts withone or more operator development servers (e.g., operator developmentserver 808, FIG. 8) to configure device model 102 for simulated networkoperation to allow testing of application 104 within a simulatedwireless network environment (e.g., a simulated mobile phone wirelessnetwork environment). Simulated network operation is described infurther detail below and shown in FIGS. 8 though 13.

In step 716, method 700 transfers the application to the mobile device.In one example of step 716, emulator 101 instructs development tool 112to publish application 104 to mobile device 114.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating interaction of emulator 101 withan operator development server 808 via Internet 822 for simulatingplaying of application 104 within a mobile device connected to awireless network (e.g., a mobile phone wireless network). FIGS. 9, 10,11 and 12 show exemplary windows that allow a user to interact withemulator 101 for configuring and testing operation of application 104within model 102 when simulating connection to a wireless network. FIGS.8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are best viewed together with the followingdescription.

Emulator 101 is shown with an operator interface 802 that interacts withoperator development server 808 via Internet 822. Internet 822 may, forexample, represent the world wide web (WWW), an Intranet or any fixed orwireless server connection. Operator development server 808 is shownwith a simulator 810, characteristic data 815 and model data 820. Modeldata 820 may, for example, represent live network profiles. Tofacilitate connection to operator development server 808, a user ofemulator 101 purchases a subscription from a provider of operatordevelopment server 808 (or from a third party) that allows emulator 101to connect to operator development server 808 via Internet 822. Uponconnection to operator development server 808, emulator 101 may downloadcharacteristic data 815 from operator development server 808 for one ormore mobile device types supported by operator development server 808(i.e., supported by the operator's wireless network). Characteristicdata 815 may, for example, represent mobile device characteristics 115of FIG. 1. Further, emulator 101 may download additional model data 820for use within device model 102 for increasing simulated functionalityof model 102 (e.g., simulating additional handset functionality and/ornetwork functionality). The user of emulator 101 may, for example,purchase data 820 for additional mobile device types as they becomeavailable, thereby allowing emulator 101 to include modeling capabilityfor a new pre-release mobile device, scheduled release mobile device andcurrent mobile devices. Alternatively, the use of data 815 and data 820may be includes within a monthly subscription fee, thereby allowing theuser to author applications for new mobile devices (e.g., new mobilephone models and live mobile profiles) provided by an operator (e.g.,mobile phone wireless network operator).

In one example of operation, emulator 101 downloads a network simulatorinterface 804 from operator development server 808 into device model 102as shown in FIG. 8. Network simulator interface 804 includesfunctionality that allows device model 102 to communicate with simulator810 to simulate connectivity of mobile device 114 with a wirelessnetwork. Specifically, network simulator interface 804 within model 102interacts with data provider 812 and event generator 814 to determineresource utilization resulting from network interaction by model 102.Thus, as application 104 plays within model 102, the effects of device114 interacting with a wireless network are simulated such that framebased profile data display 110 shows resource utilization that includesthe live or scripted effects of interaction with the wireless network.In one embodiment, capacity line 308 of display 300 within profile datadisplay 110 is dynamically modified to show actual resource availabilityto application 104 resulting from resource utilization by simulatedwireless network activity within device model 102. For example, if amessage is received and/or retrieved by model 102 while playingapplication 104, certain resources are required to handle the receivedmessage, and therefore available resources for application 104 isreduced accordingly.

Simulator 810 is shown with a data provider 812 and an event generator814. Data provider 812 may, for example, simulate data transfers withina wireless network. For example, the data transfer may be cased upon acertain bandwidth associated with the wireless network. Event generator814 may, for example, generate certain events (e.g., incoming calls,incoming text messages, etc) that occur within a wireless network.Simulator 810, using data provider 812 and event generator 814, thusinteracts with network simulator interface 804 to model operation of awireless network (e.g., a mobile phone network).

Operator interface 802 may interact with multiple operator developmentservers 808 to facilitate testing of application 104 with manyoperators' networks. As appreciated, where application 104 is designedto function on multiple mobile devices operating on wireless networksworldwide, operator network simulation removes the burden of travelingto operator network locations from application developers, sinceapplication operation on a mobile device connected to a network may besimulated by emulator 101 and thus measured back against the authoringenvironment.

FIG. 9 shows one exemplary window 900 for selecting operator networksbased upon geographic location. Window 900 shows a menu item 902 that,upon selection by the user, displays a world map 904 that allows theuser to select a geographical region in which mobile device 114 is tooperate. For example, window 900 shows a mouse pointer 906 selecting theUnited Kingdom, resulting in a sub-map display 908 of the selectedlocation showing available wireless networks 910. Sub-map display 908is, for example a ‘mouse-over’ event. Upon selection of the location,world map 904 is replaced by sub-map 908 of the selected location and apull-down list 1004 of available operators within that location as shownin window 1000, FIG. 10. Alternatively, the use may select menu item1002 to display pull-down list 1004.

Upon selection of an operator within list 1004, emulator 101 displays apull-down list 1104 of mobile devices supported by the selectedoperator, as shown in window 1100 of FIG. 11. Alternatively, the use mayselect the menu item 1102 to display list 1104. Upon selection of amobile device from list 1104, window 1200, FIG. 12, is displayed toallow the user to select desired network characteristics for simulation.

Window 1200 shows a pull-down list 1202 of network characteristics thatmay be simulated by simulator 810. For example, simulator 810 may allowcontrol of scripted events (e.g., cell tower identification, servicemessage, bandwidth, etc.), consumer events (e.g., checking email,checking messages, browsing network, available minutes, selectingimages, etc.) and incoming events (e.g., phone calls, WAP Messages,receiving MMS, receiving SMS, etc.). Based upon selection from list1202, a second list may be presented to allow further simulationrequirements to be entered. In the example of window 1200, consumerevents entry of list 1202 was selected, resulting in display ofpull-down list 1204 from which check messages was selected resulting inthe display of pull-down list 1206. In this example, the user may select‘send message’ from list 1206 to evaluate the performance of application104 while a message is received from the network.

In one embodiment, maps 904, 908 and lists 1004, 1104, 1202, 1204 and1206 are based upon information received by operator interface 802 fromone or more operator development servers 808. Thus, functionality ofmodel 102 and selectable simulations of simulator 810 may be easilyupdated by the operator as new mobile devices are created withoutrequiring updates to software of emulator 101.

Optionally, the user may select menu item 901, FIG. 9, to immediatelylocate, download and import modeling characteristics into emulator 101.These characteristics may be stored within storage 134 of computer 130,FIG. 1B.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating one exemplary method 1300 forconfiguring wireless network simulation.

In step 1302, method 1300 selects a geographic location of the wirelessnetwork. In one example of step 1302, emulator 101 displays window 900and the user selects the United Kingdom as the wireless networklocation.

In step 1304, method 1300 selects a network operator from within theselected location. In one example of step 1304, emulator 101 displayswindow 1000 including pull-down list 1004 of network operators withinthe location selected in step 1302.

In step 1306, method 1300 connects to the selected network operator'sdevelopment server. In one example of step 1306, emulator 101 utilizesoperator interface 802 to connect to operator development server 808based upon the operator selected in step 1304.

In step 1308, method 1300 downloads a list of mobile devices supportedby the simulator of the operator selected in step 1304. In one exampleof step 1308, emulator 101 downloads characteristic data 815 from server808 to determine mobile devices supported by simulator 810 and populateslist 1104 of window 1100. Of note, an operator may add functionality tosimulator 810 based upon a new mobile device prior to supporting thedevice within the operator's wireless network, thereby encouragingdevelopment of applications for the new device before its launch,increasing operator and/or author revenues.

In step 1310, method 1300 selects a mobile device from the list ofsupported mobile devices. In one example of step 1310, the user selectsa mobile device for emulation from list 1104 of window 1100. In anotherexample, where the user has already selected a mobile device frompull-down list 502, emulator 101 automatically selects the same device,if available, from list 1104.

In step 1312, method 1300 downloads a network simulator interface forthe selected mobile device. In one example of step 1312, emulator 101instructs operator interface 802 to download network simulator interface804 from server 808.

In step 1314, method 1300 loads the network simulator interface into themobile device model. In one example if step 1314, emulator 101 loadsnetwork simulator interface 804 into model 102.

In step 1316, method 1300 selects network characteristics to simulate.In one example of step 1316, the user utilizes lists 1202, 1204 and 1206of window 1200 to specify network characteristics for simulation bysimulator 810.

In step 1318, method 1300 models the application running within a mobiledevice connected to a wireless network. In one example of step 1318,model 102 interacts with simulator 110 via network simulator interface804 and internet 822 while playing application 104 and displayingprofile data display 110.

In one embodiment, the user may purchase and download simulator 810 fromoperator development server 808 to facilitate local simulation of thewireless network (i.e., without utilizing Internet 822). In thisembodiment, simulator 810 may operate within emulator 101, withinauthoring environment 122 or within computer 130 to provide interactionwith model 102.

Emulator 101 may utilize operator interface 802 to interact with one ormore operator development servers 808 to download characteristics (e.g.,characteristic data 815) and modeling data (e.g., model data 820) forgenerating mobile device model 102. As new mobile devices are madeavailable, each application author (i.e., user) is able to downloadthese modeling characteristics and test applications for the new mobiledevice. As mobile devices become more sophisticated and includeadditional hardware and functionality, emulator 101, though asubscription service with an operator, for example, may download thisadditional functionality for use in model 102. These characteristics(e.g., characteristic data 815) may include bitmaps, characteristicshandset profiles, modeling algorithms, complete mobile device models,bandwidths etc. thereby automatically updating functionality ofauthoring environment 122. Wireless network operators participate byupdating their development servers (e.g., development servers 808) toprovide the latest emulation information and functionality for eachsupported mobile device (e.g., mobile phone handset) and by updatingtheir network simulators (e.g., simulator 810) to includes functionalityand/or proposed functionality of their wireless networks.

Application authors (e.g., users of emulator 101) are provided with avisual authoring environment in which the authored application may beemulated as operating within one or more modeled mobile devices (thatare optionally connected to a simulated wireless network) withoutleaving the authoring environment.

The emulator (e.g., emulator 101) may be provided as part of theauthoring environment, or as an add-on to an existing development tool.In an embodiment, characteristics for each mobile device to be emulatedare downloaded from a server for a determined price or subscription fee.Since new mobile devices are continually being produced, applicationauthors continually require new modeling characteristics to be able totest their applications. For example, a subscribed charge of $10-15dollars per handset saves each developer from purchasing a mobile device($100-200 dollars) and alleviates the need to travel to a wirelessnetwork location when testing each mobile device. Thus, the wirelessnetwork operator may receive revenue from developers by providing thedevelopers with online network simulation capability. The applicationauthors, via the Internet, are then able to test applications for mobiledevices running on wireless networks worldwide.

Characteristics for each mobile device to be emulated may be downloadedfrom a server for a determined price, licensing or subscription fee. Itis estimated that nearly 700 million new mobile devices will be shippedin 2005, with a new handset model being launched every other day. Thisrapid mobile device development requires that applications designed torun on these mobile devices also sustain rapid development. Developmentsystems targeted at one mobile device may become obsolete and possiblyof little value to the developer at the time it is shipped. Since a newmobile device is being launched every other day, application authorscontinually require purchasing all addressable targeted devices prior toconsumer release. For example, a charge of $10-15 dollars per modeledhandset would save each developer purchasing each target mobile device($100-200 dollars) as well as alleviating the need to travel to awireless network location whilst testing each mobile device beforepublic release, two substantial development and release costs.

During development of an application for a mobile device, an applicationauthor may transfer and play the application hundreds of times(development life cycles) on the targeted mobile device beforeidentifying and correcting all system resource problems within theapplication. Live server and profile updates would substantially reduceand alleviate a high churn rate of development life cycles, enabling amore cost effective authoring model for the developer. As well, althoughthe purchase of a ‘static’ PC authoring environment may become obsoletedue to the ongoing release of new mobile handsets (the target releaseplatform) emulator 101 and operator development server 808 maintains alive and continually updatable business model and authoring platformlong after the initial authoring platform has released to the market.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating one method for determining whetheran application of a mobile device is operable. In step 1402, method 1400downloads characteristics over Internet for one or more mobile devicesto be emulated. In step 1404, method 1400 tests the application for themobile devices, via the Internet, using an emulator to determine if theapplication is operable on the mobile device.

Changes may be made in the above methods and systems without departingfrom the scope hereof. It should thus be noted that the matter containedin the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings should beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. The followingclaims are intended to cover all generic and specific features describedherein, as well as all statements of the scope of the present method andsystem, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for developing an application for amobile device comprising: a software authoring interface configured tosimultaneously visually emulate, via one or more profile displaywindows, a plurality of network characteristics indicative ofperformance of the mobile device when executing the application; whereinthe software authoring interface is further configured to simulate anetwork connection state encountered by the mobile device.
 2. The systemof claim 1, wherein the software authoring interface is configured toenable a user to select from one or more connection simulations fortesting how well mobile content performs on the mobile device.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the one or more connection simulations areconfigured to simulate wireless transmission of content to the mobiledevice based on the selected connection simulation.
 4. The system ofclaim 2, wherein the connection simulation includes one or moreprofiles.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the profiles include presetprofiles.
 6. The system of claim 4, wherein the profiles are configuredto enable a user to manage the profiles.
 7. The system of claim 4,wherein the profiles are configured to enable a user to create customprofiles.
 8. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more connectionsimulations are based on different connection statistics reported by oneor more mobile devices used in non-simulated environments.
 9. The systemof claim 2, wherein the one or more connection simulations are based ondata of interaction with network operators in non-simulatedenvironments.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the data includes livenetwork profiles, real-time bandwidth profiles, or both.
 11. The systemof claim 9, wherein the data includes data representing one or moremobile devices.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the softwareauthoring interface is configured to allow a user to simulate anincoming sms message.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the softwareauthoring interface is configured to allow a user to simulate anincoming phone call.
 14. The system of claim 1, further comprising atesting interface configured to accept user inputs for selectingavailable simulated or non-simulated connection states.
 15. The systemof claim 1, wherein the software authoring interface has access tomobile devices in geographical markets worldwide to create simulatedand/or non-simulated network environments.
 16. The system of claim 1,wherein the software authoring interface has access to real-timeinteraction with network operators to measure and emulate networkcharacteristics.
 17. A system for developing an application for a mobiledevice comprising: an online marketplace configured to distributeapplications, wherein at least one application is developed using asoftware authoring platform configured to simultaneously visuallyemulate, via one or more profile display windows, a plurality ofhardware characteristics indicative of performance of the mobile devicewhen executing the application.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein theonline marketplace is configured to accept applications developed usingthe software authoring platform.
 19. The system of claim 17, wherein theonline marketplace is configured to distribute applications developedusing the software authoring platform.
 20. The system of claim 17,wherein the online marketplace is hosted on one or more servers.
 21. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein the online marketplace includes a server.22. The system of claim 17, wherein the online marketplace is accessiblefrom both handheld and desktop devices.
 23. The system of claim 17,wherein the hardware characteristics include resource utilizationinformation.
 24. The system of claim 23, wherein the resourceutilization information is displayed graphically using a timelineindicating points in time during execution of the application.
 25. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein the online marketplace specifies fees foraccepting applications.
 26. The system of claim 17, wherein the chargeonline marketplace specifies fees for distributing applications.
 27. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein the online marketplace specifies fees fordeploying applications.
 28. The system of claim 17, wherein the onlinemarketplace is configured to provide revenue sharing for thedistribution or sale of applications.
 29. The system of claim 17,wherein the online marketplace includes application revenue sharingbetween a developer and a handset maker for distribution or sale ofapplications.
 30. The system of claim 17, wherein the online marketplacespecifies fees for provisioning services.
 31. The system of claim 17,wherein the online marketplace specifies fees for content managementservices.
 32. The system of claim 17, wherein the online marketplacespecifies fees for updating the application with new information. 33.The system of claim 17, wherein the online marketplace specifies feesfor updating the application with new data.
 34. The system of claim 17,wherein the online marketplace specifies fees for updating theapplication with new content.
 35. A system for developing an applicationfor a mobile device comprising: an online marketplace which includesrevenue sharing for sale or distribution of applications, wherein atleast one application is developed using a software authoring platformconfigured to simultaneously visually emulate, via one or more profiledisplay windows, a plurality of hardware characteristics indicative ofperformance of the mobile device when executing the application.
 36. Thesystem of claim 35, wherein the application revenue sharing includesvariable billing.
 37. The system of claim 35, wherein the applicationrevenue sharing includes a subscription fee.
 38. The system of claim 35,wherein the application revenue sharing includes a usage fee.
 39. Thesystem of claim 35, wherein the application revenue sharing includesthird party billing.
 40. A system for developing an application for amobile device comprising: an online marketplace configured to distributeinformation to applications, wherein at least one application isdeveloped using a software authoring platform configured tosimultaneously visually emulate, via one or more profile displaywindows, a plurality of hardware characteristics indicative ofperformance of the mobile device when executing the application.
 41. Thesystem of claim 40, wherein the information is data.
 42. The system ofclaim 40, wherein the information is content.
 43. The system of claim40, wherein the information is marketing information.
 44. The system ofclaim 40, wherein the information includes a computer program or script,or firmware update, or hardware update.
 45. The system of claim 40,wherein the online marketplace is hosted on one or more servers.
 46. Thesystem of claim 40, wherein the online marketplace includes a server.47. The system of claim 40, wherein the online marketplace is accessiblefrom both handheld and desktop devices.
 48. The system of claim 40,wherein the online marketplace is configured to update information onthe application.
 49. The system of claim 40, wherein the onlinemarketplace specifies fees to update information on the application. 50.The system of claim 40, wherein the online marketplace is configured todistribute information to an application.
 51. The system of claim 40,wherein the online marketplace specifies fees to distribute informationto an application.
 52. The system of claim 40, wherein the onlinemarketplace specifies s fees for providing information services to theapplication.
 53. The system of claim 40, wherein the online marketplacespecifies fees for updating information services to the application. 54.The system of claim 40, wherein the online marketplace specifies s feesfor updating the software authoring platform.
 55. The system of claim40, wherein the online marketplace specifies fees for informationprovisioning services to the application.
 56. The system of claim 40,wherein the online marketplace specifies fees for information managementservices to the application.
 57. The system of claim 40, wherein theonline marketplace is configured to allow a user to manage or updateapplications through a server or other connection to the marketplace.58. The system of claim 40, wherein the online marketplace is configuredto allow a user to manage or update the information of the applicationthrough a server or other connection to the marketplace.
 59. The systemof claim 40, wherein the online marketplace is configured to allow auser to manage or update or provide the application with informationthrough a server or other connection to the marketplace.
 60. A systemcomprising: an application configured to enable a user to modify a photoon the mobile device, wherein the application is developed using asoftware authoring platform configured to simultaneously visuallyemulate, via one or more profile display windows, a plurality ofhardware characteristics indicative of performance of the mobile devicewhen executing the application.
 61. The system of claim 60, wherein theapplication is configured to allow an end user to add content to modifythe photo.
 62. The system of claim 61, wherein the content includestext.
 63. The system of claim 62, wherein the text includes a caption.64. The system of claim 61, wherein the content includes an image,animation, or both.
 65. The system of claim 60, wherein the applicationis configured to allow an end user to distribute the modified photothrough a server or other connection to the internet.
 66. The system ofclaim 60, wherein the application is configured to allow an end user tomanage or update the modified photo or photo application through aserver or other connection to the internet.
 67. The system of claim 60,wherein mobile revenues are created using the modified photo orapplication.
 68. The system of claim 67, wherein the revenues includeads.
 69. The system of claim 67, wherein the revenues include brandmarketing.